N.Y. man wants to get tiger back

Ming belongs in New York, insists the man who says he owns him.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;By PEGGY SINKOVICH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NEW YORK -- A New York City man plans to battle for custody of the 400-pound tiger he says authorities snatched from his Harlem apartment and brought to an animal sanctuary in Berlin Center, Ohio.
Flanked by two Five Star Protection Inc., bodyguards, Antoine Yates said he wants his tiger back and is consulting with an attorney about what can be done.
"I will file a civil action because Ming belongs to me," Yates said.
He said that he had tried to create a bucolic utopia in his five-bedroom public housing apartment in New York, where wild animals of various species frolic and eat only vegetables.
The plan, however, went astray in October when Ming, a 2-year-old orange and white Siberian-Bengal mix, bit him.
Facing charges
Shortly after Yates went to the hospital, authorities found out about Ming and Yates' other pet, an alligator. Both were taken to animal sanctuaries.
Yates, who has four scars -- the worst about 2 inches long -- on his right leg from the bite, is facing criminal charges of reckless endangerment. He has pleaded innocent and is due back in court here Wednesday.
"Ming was everything to me; he was part of me, and I miss him so much," Yates said. "I just want to get him back. I'm still the owner. I bought him, and he's mine."
The 36-year-old construction workers says he knows he can't keep Ming in an apartment and is saving to build his own wildlife sanctuary.
"Until I can build my own place, I would at least like him at a place closer to me so that I can go visit every day," Yates said. "Ming is in Ohio. That's 400 miles away. I can't sleep at night knowing he's so far away. I should be able to decide where he should live."
Sanctuary officials
Ellen Whitehouse, owner of Noah's Lost Ark, the animal sanctuary in Ohio, could not be reached to comment.
Larry Wallach, a board member of the sanctuary, said that Ming would not be returning to New York.
"The answer is no," Wallach said. "No way. He can't have the cat. It's not his."
Yates, however, said he bought Ming in Minnesota and never gave up ownership.
Yates noted that he is hoping his lawyer will be able to talk to Whitehouse and arrange a meeting so that he can visit with Ming.
"I know he will remember me because since he was 3 months old, I would breathe in his mouth so that he would know my scent. I did that every day," Yates said.
He added that he was also disturbed to find out that Ming was given sedatives when he was taken to the sanctuary.
"Those drugs will mess him up; that's not right," Yates said.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;sinkovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;